“First, Chris accepted a position at Apple,” Patel wrote. “We wish him well.”

“Second, the circumstances of Chris’ departure from Verge raised ethical issues which are worth disclosing in the interests of transparency and respect for our audience,” Patel continued.

Patel said Vox editorial director Lockhart Steele stepped in and conducted an investigation of e-mails and logins, and interviewed employees who worked with Ziegler to make sure he had not steered favorable coverage about Apple in his Verge or Vox Media stories.

“Chris did not attempt to steer any coverage towards or away from Apple and any particular decisions he helped make had the same outcomes the would have had absent his involvement,” Patel said.

He said that Ziegler only actively worked at both places in July and was “almost entirely absent from our team in August” before they finally discovered where he was working in September.